During the race, Austin Dillon and his previous teammate Tyler Reddick had a collision as they competed for the tenth position with only 55 laps remaining. This incident occurred when all three drivers were side by side, with Dillon positioned between Brad Keselowski on the outer side and Reddick on the inner side.
The Chevrolet from Richard Childress Racing, car number 3, was the unfortunate one that suffered a loss. It spun uncontrollably across the track and collided forcefully with the wall on the outer side.
He managed to exit the car unassisted, but his participation in the race had come to an end.
The driver from RCR subsequently chose to express his dissatisfaction with Reddick by throwing his helmet onto the track, aiming towards the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota.
After undergoing examination and being cleared by the infield medical facility, he informed NBC Sports:“That I was mad. I don’t know – I heard (Dale Earnhardt) Jr.’s replay said that I came down a little bit. I felt like I was holding my own. He was at my left-rear going in there, and I knew we were three-wide. I think I’ve got the right to at least hold my lane. I’ve got to turn at some point to get down. Brad (Keselowski) was on my outside, maybe a half-lane up. But Tyler (Reddick) drove it in there, and obviously I feel like he drove it in deep enough where he had to come up the track into me. We can look at the SMT and see the little fine movements that we make, but I felt like that was not the time to do that for the No. 45 (Reddick).
I have strong dislike for the No. 3 BREZTRI Chevy team. We performed poorly at the start of the race. However, we managed to improve the car and make strategic decisions. I suppose we can continue competing in the future, despite the challenging circumstances. The impact was quite harsh.”
Dillon stated that the helmet throw was not sufficient and expressed the need to begin causing damage to others.
It’s not the first time a driver has tossed their helmet in the direction of a rival’s car in anger. Tony Stewart famously did it to Matt Kenseth after the veteran drivers wrecked while battling for the lead at Bristol in 2012.
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